Camp and coffee time....

OK - so Olivia is at her beloved Camp Calvary. When she went to board the bus yesterday, Enzo clung to her and fought tears. Milo and Lil were too busy being cute for other adults and walking the curb like it was a balance beam, but Enzo... he was sad :-(. I promised him we would write to her - we waved - then went to do some photos for our new biz venture - had lunch - played with the neighbors once home (one buddy back from a month away :-). Anyway - every night, the camp posts photos of the campers, so.... here are some images of the "welcome" festivities here.

And.... I LOVE iced coffee - was intrigued by the post on the Serious Eats blog today regarding a cup of buttery, dessert-like iced coffee in New Orleans, BUT was overjoyed to see a url at the close of the post where I could purchase and, apparently, duplicate this liquid love ;-). Maybe we should all give it a try.

Lastly (is that a word?), I have been reading, posting comments, digesting feedback and doing further research on the "free range parenting" concept and blog (see my blog list - definitely always worth a read there). I am torn - fully agree with some premises - appalled at the single-mindedness and flippancy of others. I am working on a post that will, hopefully, generate some feedback from you guys - though... I may wait until the close of summer, knowing that many of you, my blogger pals, are taking a little break currently (L, "story", RH and others).

Photo: Lil and Enzo play with the castle that Enzo and I made at a Pittsburgh Center for the Arts class waaay back before Lil was born. Daddy made a dragon to match with him (it was a week-long parent and me class, which I would highly recommend). Thinking on that summer so long ago because we took photos yesterday on the grounds there.... may do a picnic there this week.. the kids love to hang with the dogs that walk there - throw balls for them, etc.

Oh... and one more recommendation. Yesterday, baked some organic, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies for family friends. Because the kids wanted to help, I copped out a bit and did a mix (don't want too much salt or vanilla or something going into treats for someone else... and my kids can't resist my little salt pinch pot on the counter...), but... used the Cherrybrook KItchen mix that you can get at Giant Eagle's Market District or Whole Foods, and it is great (my picky Olivia calls them the best mix cookies ever). Try them.

Happy day, all. Lil and I are looking at pictures of "prince-nesses" (princesses). She loves them. Go figure. Lots to do, actually. My house is over 100 years old and, therefore, always a work in progress, and it is filled with 4 busy kids and 2 parents who are restless creatives with all sorts of projects in the queue, including photo collages, kids clothing designs, a family cookbook not to mention painting (my bedroom - a sanctuary for a couple of weeks once we kicked the boys out for good - is now covered with splotches of paint on the walls as we plot our color - lovely), herb gardening, furniture rearranging ....